Dry heat sterilizer for animal bedding and cages

Description

The University provides accommodation for a large volume of animals in the course of it’s day to day work. Regular sterilization of bedding and cages is critical to ensure the health and wellbeing of animals and to comply with bio-security controls set by the government and by accepted best-practice (such as avoiding the propagation of infectious diseases). In recent months an incumbent steam-based sterilizer system has failed on a regular basis, placing these bio-security and welfare controls at risk. Steam based machines are time consuming to build and maintain; in order to avoid an operational incident and provide biosecurity assurance as soon as possible the University has decided it should urgently procure an immediate solution, ahead of making long term plans for the replacement/upgrade of such machines. It is believed that a new type of device – a dry-heat based steriliser – would be the most appropriate solution, as in principle this is a simpler device which could be delivered and built faster than a steam counterpart. On the basis of; - Urgent circumstances which the University could not reasonably foresee or control - It is believed there may only be one supplier on the market who has an established dry-heat proposition with a prior service record encompassing a reasonable period of time The University is notifying the market it plans to undertake a Negotiated Procedure Without Prior Call for Competition. The University will observe a ten (10) day Stand-Still in line with the Public Contract Regulations (Scotland) 2015. Any suppliers wishing to challenge this procedure should do so with the individual stated on the notice, during this Stand-Still. Value is an estimate consisting of GBP 380k expected cost with GBP 25k contingency. Lot 1: Technical requirements A dry heat sterilizer is required for the routine sterilization of assembled animal cages, bedding and other thermostable items involved in laboratory animal science. General characteristics: -Electrically powered heating, either 240V (2-phase) or 400V (3-phase) -Operating temperature of 140 deg C for routine use, no higher than 210°C at any time -Air circulation required to ensure even temperature distribution throughout static holding period -Intake air must be filtered to <0.3um (micro-metre) -Exhaust air must be filtered to <0.3um (micro-metre) -Throughput must be able to exceed 3320 cages per working week -There are no weight constraints Dimensions: Internal chamber dimensions should not be LESS than -Width 1000mm -Depth 2300mm -Height 2130mm Must be able to accommodate logistics trolleys and plenum racks for (e.g.) GM500 mouse IVC cages (Tecniplast) and must be able to process 3320 assembled mouse cages in a standard working week (5 days, 8 hours per day). You may include scheduled start and unattended cycle end times. External device dimensions should NOT EXCEED -Width 3600mm -Depth 3150mm -Height 2750mm Design considerations The sterilizer may be pit mounted. The door openings should be at opposite sides of the sterilizer so that un-sterile cargo is loaded from the external side, and sterile cargo is unloaded from the internal side (pass-through design). Human Machine Interface (“HMI”) (i.e. control panel) controls should be located on the external side, with the ability to control cycle operation and safely open doors from the internal side as well. There needs to be the capacity to save at least 10 configured control settings for different load types. Doors should have an airtight seal, preferably an inflatable gasket-type. Both doors must interlock when the machine is operating. When a cycle fail occurs, or an emergency stop is used, only the door on the side that initiated that cycle should be unlocked until the control system is reset. The existing stainless steel facia [surrounding an obsolete sterilizer] needs to be reinstated to seal with all existing finished surfaces to re-create an airtight barrier between clean and dirty access doors. The floor of the cargo chamber must be flush or near flush with the finished floor level on both sides of the sterilizer. This is so heavy loads can be easily wheeled in and out. The maximum threshold at each door is 15mm and the threshold must be bevelled for smooth transit. Extracted air must be mechanically exhausted via ducting to the outside to minimise cycle time. Each operation must be recorded on paper at the Human-Machine Interface (control panel), and must also have the capacity to save electronic run data in an accessible format . Alarm history must also be stored. The steriliser must have overtemperature sensors and control systems independent of the main controls in case of sensor failure in the main circuit. An audible alarm must sound in cases of overtemperature and failed airflow. Full validation of various load types must be achievable at our location. Access for installation is good, with double doorway and no steps. The sterilizer must be CE certified. You must also be able to provide customer references for a closely matched sterilizer and provide reliability information for equivalent machines in similar environments for a reasonable period of time to give high degree confidence.